Decolonising the Spaces Intended to Decolonise

Abstract

In this essay, I argue that while Indigenous requirements and readings are necessary for academic decolonisation, progress requires white bodies in the academe to stop replacing marginalised ones (Tuck & Gaztambide-Fernández, 2013). In doing so, I reflect and recognise my positionality as a colonial project and settler-Métis woman alongside my ongoing efforts to decolonise my perspective, research, and teaching. Yet even in this decolonisation, I am privileged as a white settler-Métis woman. My reflection will highlight the ways in which critical race theory has changed who students read in social theory, but rarely in who teaches that theory. In considering this, I grapple with my own position as a white settler-Métis woman who grew up apart from my Métis culture.  

Specifically, I will grapple with Tuck and Yang’s (2012) work about decolonisation and Tuck & Gaztambide-Fernandez’s work (2013) about displacement of Indigenous bodies even in representations of Indigenous cultures. Further, I will consider the ways in which Sociology as a discipline has co-opted some of this displacement and some avenues for course correction (Go, 2020). Post-secondary institutions in Canada are widely recognizing the need for increased equity, diversity, and inclusion in research, hiring, and teaching. There’s a growing call for decolonisation of Canada’s postsecondary institutions and increased Indigenous studies requirements across multiple disciplines, thereby moving the canon of required reading into something far more diverse. Yet Fanon’s (1967; 1968) work emphasises the need to interact with Indigenous people. Reading is a type of interaction, but ultimately, Indigenous worldviews are owned by Indigenous people. As much as white settler scholars have trained and engaged with groups, this is not a substitute for being Indigenous when it comes to sharing and teaching Indigenous perspectives. This is particularly true as Indigenous cultures, like all cultures, are not static.